Page 13 of Tower of Tempest
My entire body ached after that long climb down, legs and arms shaking, sweat plastering wisps of my hair to my forehead. The prince seemed to fare much better. His cheeks were flushed and sweat dotted his brow, but he was built like a thick tree and looked like he could spend all day climbing up and down the rope with a smile on his face and probably while trying to flirt with the thing. Gran had told me about the playboy prince, like she had all the royals. I knew of his reputation as the most famous bachelor in all of Arathia.
Thoughts of him fled as my boots sank into the mud. I wanted to fall to my knees and kiss the damp dirt. I hadn’t been sure I’d ever step foot outside that tower again.
“I still can’t believe she’s real,” a voice said, and my head snapped up. I’d almost forgotten there were others here.
A man and woman stood before me. The man ran a hand over his smooth-shaven chin, his skin like the sepia brown of the wood Gran and I used to build so much of the furniture in our tower. His teeth gleamed white against his brown skin, and he was vibrating, excitement oozing from him.
“I’m Leoni,” the woman said, stepping up to me and sticking out her hand. “This idiot who won’t stop staring is Driscoll.” She jabbed a thumb at the man.
“I’m making eye contact,” Driscoll said. “It shows I’m trustworthy and not hiding anything.” There was an edge to his voice.
“It also makes you look like a sociopath,” Leoni shot back.
I glanced at Prince Lochlan, who raised his brows as if to say“I told you so.”He wasn’t wrong. It seemed like they bickered quite a lot. I didn’t know why, but it actually put me more at ease.
They were certainly quite the pair. The top of Leoni’s head only came up to Driscoll’s chest, her skin golden, freckles dotting her cheeks and nose. A blue tunic stretched over her curvy hips and brown trousers over her thick short legs.
I swiped some wisps of hair from my eyes. “I’m Poppy. It’s nice to meet you all.”
“Poppy,” the prince murmured like I’d given him a gift.
“So I know why he’s here,” I said brusquely. “Why are you two here?”
“Oh, you know.” Driscoll waved a hand in the air. “Looking for the next great adventure, risking our lives to save others, laughing in the face of danger?—”
Leoni stepped in front of him and nodded her head toward Prince Lochlan. “He needed our help, so we came.”
Lochlan scratched his head. “I wouldn’t say I needed your help.”
“I was the captain of the guard for Princess Gabrielle.” A sadness tinged Leoni’s words. “But she doesn’t need me anymore, and I wanted to find someone who does. So I thought I’d come along, maybe prove that I can be useful to someone other than Princess Gabrielle.”
Driscoll flicked Leoni’s ear. “That was a way better answer than mine.”
A laugh escaped me, and I realized I liked them, despite all my misgivings. I didn’t trust them, but I did believe their answers were true. The prince was here because of his dream, and they were here to support him. It was an odd trio, but maybe they could help me find my gran after all.
“Do you know who kidnapped your gran?” The prince stepped forward. “Any idea where they took her?”
I still felt the whoosh of the shadow over my head from that night in the forest, and skitters ran up my arms. “It was a shadow.”
Driscoll gasped while Leoni’s face lost all color.
The prince frowned. “A shadow. Are you sure?”
I made a face. “You can have nightly dreams about me, but a shadow is farfetched?”
His head bobbed from side to side. “Fair point,” he murmured as if talking to himself. “But what would he want with your gran?”
He. The prince saidhelike it was certain who took her.
Prince Lochlan crossed his arms across his broad chest. “Well, the good news is, we have experience being kidnapped by shadows. The bad news is it’s not pleasant. And if your gran is in the shadow court...” Heshivered, and I wondered what, exactly, his experience with the shadow court was.
As much as she loved her childhood home, Gran had always warned me the shadow court was a dangerous place now, an island that had fallen into ruin after the Shadow War, when the shadow court had declared war on the other courts. That war had led to the decimation of Shiraeth, the star court, which was no longer in existence, all the star elementals dead. It had enraged the other courts so much that they’d brought their full powers down on Sorrengard, destroying the shadow court and banishing any shadow elementals left to their island. Gran had managed to escape and had made me promise I’d never go to Sorrengard under any circumstances. Now I might have to break that promise.
I shrugged helplessly. “So where do we start?”
The sun broke through the clouds above, a delicious warmth spreading over me, the buttery glow cascading across the meadow.
Leoni stepped forward. “It would make sense to go to the shadow court,” she said to the prince. His jaw locked. “We need to get your shadow back, and...”
